Oak Ridge Associated Universities 2006 Annual Report

HIGHLIGHTS
ORISE conducted several peer reviews for EPA in
2006, including a toxicological assessment of the
chemical dibutyl phthalate, which is used to make plastics
soft and flexible and is found in products such as shower
curtains and raincoats. Other reviews included a review
of 1,1,1-trichloroethane, which is used as a solvent, and a
review of ceric oxide, an ingredient used to polish glass.
As a part of the peer review process, ORISE identified
and recruited the technical experts to serve as reviewers
and performed analyses to ensure reviewers had no
conflicts of interest.
Scientists, researchers,
DOE officials, and graduate
students in the genomics
field gathered in Bethesda,
Maryland, in February 2006 to
attend the Joint Genomics:
GTL Contractor-Grantee
Workshop IV and Metabolic
Engineering Working Group
Interagency Conference on
Metabolic Engineering 2006.
The workshop, coordinated
by ORISE and sponsored by
DOE’s Office of Biological
and Environmental Research,
provided an opportunity for the
program investigators to discuss the successes and
challenges of their research. More than 320 people
attended. The Genomics:GTL (GTL) research program
focuses on developing technologies to understand and
use the diverse capabilities of microbes for innovative
solutions to DOE energy and environmental mission
challenges. The genome is an organism’s complete
set of DNA. A strand of DNA, pictured above, contains
a specific sequence, which spells out the exact
instructions required to create a particular organism
with its own unique traits. The ultimate GTL goal is to
generate increasingly accurate mathematical models of
life processes that allow researchers to predict, from an
organism’s genome sequence, its response to varying
environmental conditions.
ORISE is continuing its support of homeland
security research with its collaboration in
the creation of the new U.S. Department of
Homeland Security’s University Affiliate
Centers (UACs). The four designated centers
will conduct research on advanced methods for
information analysis and develop computational
technologies that contribute to securing the
nation. After processing universities’ proposals,
ORISE gathered experts from across the nation
for a peer and merit review panel, which took
place in Washington, D.C., in March. The UACs
were announced in July. Rutgers University, the
University of Southern California, the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the
University of Pittsburgh, and their partners, will
receive a total of $10.2 million from DHS over a
three-year period.
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